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Arsenal in battle to sign £32m Bundesliga midfielder

By on August 23, 2017

According to a report in the Express, Arsenal are facing a battle with Barcelona over the signing of £32m-rated Schalke midfielder Leon Goretzka this summer.

Arsene Wenger is being tipped to dip back in to the transfer market during the closing stages of the window once he manages to offload some of the clubs ‘deadwood’.

A new central midfielder is understood to be on the agenda as we desperately need a top class option to compete with Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka this season.

Santi Cazorla can’t be relied upon due to his troublesome Achilles injury, Jack Wilshere’s future at the club is in serious doubt while Mohamed Elneny and Francis Coquelin aren’t good enough to start regularly for a side with title aspirations.

We’ve been linked with a number of midfielders this summer but the Express are citing a report from Transfer Market Web that claims Wenger is eyeing a move for Goretza after being impressed by his performances for club and country.

The 22-year-old is a regular in the German squad and he’s been an important player for Schalke since joining the club in 2013 but his future is now in doubt as he’s got just one year left on his contract and has refused to sign an extension.

The newspaper suggests he’s available for £32m this summer and I think that would be an excellent piece of business if we could lure the young midfielder to the Emirates before the window shuts.

However, it looks like we’re going to face some stiff competition as the Express say Barcelona have turned their attention to Goretza as they look to find a long-term replacement for Andres Iniesta.

READ: Arsenal considering £20m defender deal

The report indicates that Barca’s director of football Robert Fernandez and head scout Josep Boada have already landed in Germany to hold talks with Schalke chiefs about a potential deal.

This spells bad news for Arsenal as we’re unlikely to make our interest official until we’ve offloaded a few more players and by that time Goretza could already be a Barcelona player.